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Question

The Contiki Reputation - fact or fiction?

17 Nov 2010
Explorer1217161 asked

I want to go on the Southern Adventures (starting in LA) tour next year because I like the itinerary best out of all the tour companies. However, Contiki has a reputation (at least in Australia) as being a party tour where people just go to get drunk and hook up and not actually bother seeing the sites. I'm wondering if this is accurate or not?<BR><BR>I'm happy to have a few drinks but I don't want to spend the tour too drunk to get out and see things (which for me, is the whole point).<BR><BR>Any comments?

There is a wide range of people on Contiki tours. There are some that are there to party every night, some that only do sometimes and others that don’t really party. Don’t worry because with all the different people there will be someone who wants to do the same stuff as you.

17 Nov 2010
NaHdz said

The bottom line is that the tour goes to all the places it says it will, the TM is always on his game and they do their job well which is to make your holiday the best it can be. It is totally up to you whether you go out and party at night or not..

My Contiki did have a few people that partied hard every night and I can tell you they did miss a few sights because they were to hungover to get out of bed..but the tour doesn’t stop for them so it doesn’t affect the people who chose to go to bed at a reasonable hour lol

So it does have a reputation for being a party tour and to a certain extent it’s true but ultimately it’s what you make it so your personal experience will be whatever you want it to be <!--graemlin::)-->

Hope that helps!

18 Nov 2010
Jane85 said

There’s people there from every column….I did the grand southern and always found at least one person who was up for a quiet night or a big night, or who was up for sight seeing or just kicking back <!--graemlin::)-->

20 Nov 2010
Clare82 said

i just finished the GS, and there is definately a partying aspect, however we all made an effort to see the sights and do as many optionals as we could.Pretty much every night has a ‘nightlife’ option, but sometimes people just stayed at the hotel and had drinks in the room, went home early, or just did washing and want to bed early!

Definately recommend doing it

22 Nov 2010
Daniel88 said

with like 40 ppl on most trips, ull be sure to find a bit of everything

25 Nov 2010
Hayley said

Remember, at the end of the day, this is YOUR vacation and you’ve paid a lot of money for it so don’t feel pressured to do anything you don’t want to.

It’s true that a lot will depend on your group dynamic and TM but even if you get a party group, as others have said, there will also be a few who don’t party and you can just stick with them. There will be nights where you’ll want to go out and you’ll have a great time!

I’m not a huge partier so I didn’t go out every night, but I did in the big “nightlife” cities (Vegas, Memphis, New Orleans, etc) but was quite content to have quiet nights catching up on sleep, my journal, etc. I still had a fantastic time and it allowed me to hang with a good mix of people.

30 Nov 2010
Explorer1121421 said

Fiction in my experience! I was concerned about this too the first time I did a Contiki trip (it was also my honeymoon – turns out there were two other couples on their honeymoon that trip too). I’d say go ahead, book and you will have a fabulous time. You’ll make plenty of friends and will see the countryside, something you wouldn’t do if you were just to fly in to the main cities. There will no doubt be a mix of people on your tour, a few will be all night long type party-ers, but you’ll also find plenty of people who’ll want a proper night’s rest before sightseeing the next day. Remember most travellers save up for a long time and put a lot of planning into these trips, and want to make the most of the sightseeing on offer.

22 Jan 2011
JWI said

This was one of my concerns as well but after doing the LA Explorer, LA to the Bay and the NY Explore I can tell you now you’ve got nothing to worry about. The tour goes exactly where it is suppose to go. I believe contiki is what you want it to be, if you want it to be about touring and seeing sights it’s about that, if you wanna wake up hung over in Vegas, it’s that too, the choice is yours. I just got back a week ago and I’m already planning another contiki, seriously it’s an awesome experience, you’ll be right mate!